In a bid to save its face from unwarranted publications which pitched it against the public,the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has described as “misleading and mischievous” the story in the social media that the wife of the former President, Dame Patience Jonathan, was denied access to the VIP lounge at the Port Harcourt International Airport on July 27, 2015.
In a statement credited to the General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Yakubu Dati, “no such thing happened. Dame Jonathan, like other family members of former presidents and other designated principal officers of government are officially entitled to the usage of airport VIP and Protocol lounges under the management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria.
“The authority holds the former first lady in high esteem, being the wife of our former president and therefore could not have done anything that would suggest disrespect to her person.
“Her convoy was only denied access to the foot of the aircraft during boarding formalities at the airport in line with international aviation best practices, strictly for safety reasons, as prescribed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Our security officials explained this fact to her details”.k
